Bittersweet Hot Chocolate
by Ms. Videl Son
Summary: TwoShot, AU. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Gaara called Hinata’s attention to him. “Are you playing hard to get?” GaaHina.
1. First Impressions

**Title:**Bittersweet Hot Chocolate  
**Disclaimer:** If Masashi Kinomoto has enough time to sue me (and every other fanart/fiction artist/writer) for copyright infringement, then he isn't spending enough time on _Naruto Shippuden_. We can't have that, now can we?  
**Theme:** Chocolate Kisses  
**Rating:** G ( K ) – Nothing in this fic requires adult supervision, so feel free to let your parents read over your shoulder. You can even use it as cover when they catch you looking at all that porn I know you have minimized at the bottom of your screen.  
**Spoilers:** How can I spoil AU?

**Summary:** TwoShot. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Gaara called Hinata's attention to him. "Are you playing hard to get?" GaaHina.

Contest Entry Two. To enter yourself, please visit "DateMe" at the link provided in my profile.

Btw, we're now on ff. net under the same name.

* * *

**Part One:** First Impressions

The silence between them was more than awkward; it was positively_painful_. As the heiress of the Hyuuga Group, Hinata knew it was her duty to entertain her father's business friend's offspring, but few of them were as intimidating as the first and only son of the Sabaku Company. Every attempt at conversational balm stung, prompting Hinata to simply keep her mouth shut and suffer quietly.

He sat across from his host, brooding over his hot chocolate as if he were contemplating murder. Considering the look that Hinata was on the receiving end of, she hoped it wasn't her.

"Um...," Hinata began, taking another stab at conversation. With any luck, her fire-haired companion would decline to literally puncture her in response. "H-How was your trip?"

Sabaku Gaara kept his consistent glare fixated on her face from his side of the small coffeehouse table, but didn't answer.

Ouch.

The latest attempt braved, Hinata sunk back into the disturbing silence and diverted her gaze to the contents of her ceramic mug.

The Hyuuga Group heiress wasn't even sure why Gaara had agreed to an outing with her in the first place. Their fathers happened to be "friendly" in an economic sense, but there was hardly any pressure for him to pretend to like her. If anything, the distance between their homes promoted an acquaintance relationship only; when two people weren't forced to socialize often, Hinata was taught, it was simpler to exchange formalities only. Besides, it wasn't as if he seemed to particularly enjoy her company or conversation, so what was the point of it all?

Once the suggestion for a teenager-only excursion had been made by her father, however, Gaara had taken him up on the offer in a short, brash fashion. Hiashi, perhaps half-hoping for a special sort of business merger in the near future, had almost smiled at this and immediately called for the car to come and collect the mismatched pair.

The opportunity for polite refusal in the form of not wishing to take up "Sabaku-san's" time had come and gone faster than Hinata could blink. Less than thirty minutes later, she and Gaara were standing in line at a cafe that she had timidly suggested and ordering identical cups of hot chocolate with whipped cream and drizzled chocolate syrup on top.

Since sitting down at a two-person table next to the front window, the only words proffered to her by her stoic company had been, "Don't call me Sabaku-san." At the suggestion that she call him "Gaara-kun" instead, he made no protest so she was left to assume that this was his preferred title.

Other than that, a few topics had been broached by her, but he had neglected (or perhaps simply refused) to respond to any of them.

Men claimed that _women_were difficult to understand, but Hinata found Gaara more than a little confusing. How was she supposed to understand any of his intentions if he never said anything? Most girls, at least, held enough conversation to allow some insight into their psyches.

Hinata held her mug betwixt her sleeve-insulated palms, watching the chocolate-striped whipped cream melt into her steaming drink. As the last floes of sweet fluff were absorbed into the ocean of hot chocolate, she felt her inclination to even try stimulating conversation likewise dissolving. Gaara obviously didn't want to talk and Hinata didn't have the nerve to force him.

Raising the mug to her lips with both hands, Hinata blew the steam away with her breath before taking a tentative sip.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

The Hyuuga heiress sputtered into her hot chocolate, startled by the sudden interjection into her thoughts by the deep, soft timbre of Gaara's voice. In doing so, she accidentally inhaled a few droplets of her drink which lodged themselves in her windpipe.

Hinata set down her mug to better cough into her fist. Between gasps for air, she offered a consolidated answer; "Wh-What?"

Gaara, expression unchanged, repeated himself. "Are you seeing anyone?"

"N – ," cough, cough. "N-No."

"I'm not either," Gaara informed her, folding his arms across his chest.

He turned his head and began watching the light snowfall outside, ending the brief conversation as bafflingly as he had begun it. Fascinated as he seemed to be by the frozen flakes of lace, he didn't look her way again.

Staring at Gaara over the arm she held against her mouth, Hinata declared to herself that she simply didn't understand him.

— — —

**Author's Notes:** Part One of Two; continue on to the next chapter for Gaara's POV.

Btw, as far as I know, Gaara doesn't actually have a surname in the series, so I simply went with "Sabaku." ("Sabaku no Gaara" Gaara of the Dessert/Sand Waterfall)

Un-beta'd.

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .**_


	2. Second That Motion

**Title:**Bittersweet Hot Chocolate  
**Disclaimer:** If Masashi Kinomoto has enough time to sue me (and every other fanart/fiction artist/writer) for copyright infringement, then he isn't spending enough time on _Naruto Shippuden_. We can't have that, now can we?  
**Theme:** Chocolate Kisses  
**Rating:** G ( K ) – Nothing in this fic requires adult supervision, so feel free to let your parents read over your shoulder. You can even use it as cover when they catch you looking at all that porn I know you have minimized at the bottom of your screen.  
**Spoilers:** How can I spoil AU?

**Summary:** TwoShot. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Gaara called Hinata's attention to him. "Are you playing hard to get?" GaaHina.

In case anyone's confused as to why there's a second part, remember that multi-chapter submissions ARE acceptable in the contest.

* * *

**Part Two: **Second That Motion

While the silence at the coffee shop had been amicable and pleasant, Gaara felt that the lack of conversation that stretched the entire length of their limo was exactly the opposite. Whether or not she was disappointed about ending their first date so early wasn't for him to say, but he certainly suspected that something was amiss.

The physical space between them was more than adequate for comfortable arrangement with Hinata pressed up against the door to her right and Gaara more than five feet away to her left, sitting along the side. More than anyone, the Sabaku heir respected an individual's personal space, but he felt that the distance that separated them was a bit extreme. Weren't dates supposed to be all "cuddly," or something like that?

Perhaps he had been a little too talkative at the coffeehouse, but Gaara understood from multiple forms of media that conversation was an important factor in the success or failure of a romantic outing. Had he said too much? Hinata certainly seemed offended about something...she hadn't even responded directly to his offer of a second date. Their rendevous had been going so well, too.

Not that he put too much stock in stereotypes, but the one about women being impossible for men to comprehend seemed to have at least a little grounding in reality. Were they really worth all the effort?

Slyly rotating his eyes towards her, Gaara fixed his gaze on Hinata. She was staring out her window at the snow adhering to the urban landscape with a puzzled expression on her face. She was wringing her hands in her skirt and chewing on her bottom lip, acting as a tense contrast to the peaceful weather outside.

Even in all her confusion, Gaara still found her exceptionally pretty. Not the loud, obnoxious kind of pretty that assaulted your senses with flamboyancy, but a clean, simple attractiveness that was worth a closer look. There was nothing artificial about her, either; she didn't appear to be wearing any makeup, her hair was its natural length and color and there were no other...enhancements on her figure that he could clearly see. (Her clothes were slightly baggy, of course, but what girl that went under the knife for "improvements" hid the results?)

No, there was nothing physically intimidating about Hyuuga Hinata. She was what she was and he, for one, found that very appealing in a female.

Despite her tendency to befuddle and disorient him with her womanly wiles, Gaara considered her well worth a bit of trouble.

Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Gaara called Hinata's attention to him. "Are you playing hard to get?"

Hinata jumped as if he'd frightened her and turned to face him from her seat. "Wh-what?"

Straightening his back against the plush leather beneath him, Gaara repeated himself (again; did she have some sort of hearing problem?). "_Are you playing hard to get_?"

Hinata shook her lovely head from side to side, sending her loose hair swirling around her head and shoulders. "Wh-what do you m-mean, Gaara-kun?"

"I asked you out for a second date," he replied. "You didn't give me an answer."

Her pale lavender eyes, so unique to her family, widened to excessive proportions. Gaara was certain that she was going to hurt herself if she didn't relax a little.

"S-Second d-d-_date_?"

Gaara didn't dignify her incredulity with a response; saying everything twice was getting tiresome.

"Wh-when did we have a f-first d-date?" she asked, flushing a shade of red that perfectly complimented his hair.

Gaara forked an eyebrow in her direction. "Just now."

Hinata's hands were so intertwined with her skirt that he could hardly see them within the lump of fabric. However, her thighs were _perfectly_ exposed and Gaara couldn't help but sneak a little glimpse. Her panties were, surprisingly, orange.

Following his gaze, Hinata looked down. The red in her face changed from a bright strawberry color to a darker hue reminiscent of a pomegranate as she quickly covered herself.

She was breathing heavily, perhaps from the exertion of embarrassment, but managed to further their original dialogue as if nothing had happened. "Th-that wasn't a d-date."

"Yes, it was," Gaara disagreed. What had she thought they were doing? Making friends?

"B-but – "

"When are we going out again?" he asked, steering the conversation in the proper direction. Without bothering to wait for a response this time, he continued on; "I leave for Suna on Sunday. Is Friday afternoon good for you?"

The limo slowed to a gentle stop in front of the Hyuuga mansion. The stylish architecture of the main house was visible through the window to Hinata's right, darkened by the tinted glass.

"W-Well – "

Gaara moved from his spot and seated himself next to Hinata, hoping to make the situation a little more comfortable for her. He draped his arm over the back of the seat as he'd seen done in more than one film and placed his free hand over one of hers as he leaned towards her. "I'll pick you up from your school at four-thirty."

Staring at their conjoined hands with the same wide-eyed, red-faced look she had been consistently sporting, Hinata replied, "O-Okay."

The door magically opened (with a bit of help from the chauffeur) next to Hinata and she immediately took her exit opportunity. She pulled her hand out from under his, extricated her shoulders from the loose hold of his arm and scrambled out of the car in flustered panic.

Well, that was settled.

— — —

**Authors Notes:** I really hope that I didn't completely bastardize Gaara's personality. I've never written him before (he hasn't even made an appearance as a minor/supporting character in any of my older fics), so I can only claim to have done my best. Here's hoping that's good enough.

Vote for me!

_**. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) . **_


End file.
